Schools

March 2010

The 21st century

teacher: music
Using technology to enhance
music teaching

The 21st century teacher: music

This publication offers insight into how

technology can be used by teachers of
music, highlighting opportunities to
extend subject pedagogy and ICT skills.
Other publications in the series offer the
opportunity to see how technology is
used in other subjects and the crossfertilisation of ideas and practice.

02

The 21st century teacher: music

03

Using technology to
enhance music teaching
As technology becomes a greater part of everyday life, it is
only natural that it becomes a central and essential part of
21st century learning. Learners already engage extensively
with technology and they expect it to be used in school.
How do teachers benefit from
the integration of technology
into all aspects of their role and
enhance the learning
experience of young people?

1. Enhance teaching and

learning by:

3. Improve assessment and

reporting by:

u
 sing a range of technologies
to cater for different learning
styles

21st century teachers of music

use technology for numerous
activities in a similar way to the
teaching of other subjects. They
embed technology throughout
the curriculum, ensuring that the
technology supports the learning
and teaching of the subject.

u
 sing technology to enable
learners to collaborate with
peers and with partner
schools.

r ecording learner achievement

and attainment electronically,
tracking pupil progress and
using this information in
assessment for learning

Like all teachers they will

employ technology to:

2. Improve administration
and planning:
for learning and teaching.
For instance, by using the
technology to re-use and
adapt documents
b
 y using technology to share
information and enhance their
personal knowledge of music,
as well as develop their
understanding of professional
issues around the subject.

c ommunicating with parents

electronically through email
and the school learning
platform.
These are just a few examples
and are not meant to be a
comprehensive list. The following
pages give some practical advice
on how teachers of music
(primary and secondary) use
technology.

The 21st century teacher: music

04

Learning
and teaching
The 21st century teacher of music uses technology to offer
varied opportunities for all learners (including those who
are not learning an instrument) to actively make music
and progress.
Supporting learners to progress
independently
The teacher who is making the
most of technology is aware that
starter instrumental tuition is
available online through
specialist providers. This is
usually available by subscription
at sites such as Gigajam. Using
sites such as this can empower
learners to progress
independently. Other sites
specialise in resources that help
learners progress in informal
learning schemes, such as
Musical futures. For instance,
the Show me how to play site
helps each member of an
aspiring rock band learn their
parts for a particular song.

There is software available that

will help students model
compositional techniques. Using
this software, students can
explore alternatives in a way that
immediately lets them hear the
effect in sound as they see a
change being made. This applies
to standard notation and to other
environments in which
alternative graphic
representations or knobs and
sliders are manipulated to make
changes. Software such as
Sibelius, Garage band, eJay and
Ableton are suitable for this
approach.
The 21st century teacher is
aware of the many new ways to
help students process sounds
electronically, including
computers, so that these sounds
can be presented in new
contexts. For instance, students
can now amplify naturally quiet
sounds. Students can also
provide an echo with naturally
dry sounds and pitch-shift
speech or play it backwards in
time. Hardware, such as effects
pedals, allows sound processing
as part of a live performance.

Case
stUdy

Using editing software in

the primary classroom
Free software, Audacity, was
used by a Year 6 teacher to
make it possible for children
to explore changing sounds.
Children selected sound files,
modified them and built them
into their own compositions
using the sound editing
software.
The children listened to
Holsts Planets Suite and
found it fascinating to see
what the music looked like as
the sound waves were
visually represented by the
software.
They were then tasked with
producing their own
composition to represent one
of the planets and these were
also played and visualised by
the software program.

The 21st century teacher: music

Teachers use technology in a way

that allows learners to produce
interesting musical textures that
they would not otherwise be able
to perform on their own. This
includes keyboard autoaccompaniment styles and
backings for improvisations.

The 21st century teacher also

encourages learners to
investigate the effect that
different soundtracks can have
on the perceived mood of a video
scene, including composing
learners own soundtrack to
given footage. Teachers use
software that allows learners to
move randomly through a
timeline to edit, while
maintaining correct video and
audio synchronisation. Software
such as Mixcraft and Sibelius
can be useful tools for this type of
task.

Clips from searchable online

collections offer 21st century
teachers the opportunity to use
video playback to demonstrate
and stimulate ideas or
discussion. They use sites such
as YouTube, Espresso clipbank
and the Philharmonia Orchestra
sound exchange for this purpose. Learners can have access to a
range of audio recording/
playback equipment that is
suitable for use in different
contexts. This includes
headphones for personal
listening, good quality speakers
for communal listening and
compact portable handheld field
recorders for gathering sonic
material from the local
environment.

The range also includes portable

multi-track recorders for
exploring composition ideas, DJ
equipment to develop hip-hop
skills and computers with read/
write optical drives for burning
new CD recordings.

05

The teacher who is making the

most of technology creates video
and audio recordings of learners,
both as their work develops and
in final performance. These are
used for peer review, for setting
self-improvement targets and to
demonstrate evidence of
achievement for assessment.
The 21st century teacher knows
how to choose and position
microphones to make good
quality recordings and edit them
using editing software such as
Audacity, Microsoft Movie Maker
and Apple iMovie. They are also
aware which media file formats
(such as wave and mpg) are best
suited to various purposes and
know how to convert between
them as necessary.

The 21st century teacher: music

Encourage learners to collaborate

The 21st century teacher makes
relevant resources available on
the schools learning platform,
allowing learning to extend
beyond the music classroom and
school timetable. As well as
being a repository for resources,
the learning platform also allows
learners to share ideas
informally and teachers to add
their comments.

Teachers can make relevant

listening material available over
the school network, offering a
rich diversity of alwaysaccessible material to
contextualise and enrich topics
under formal or informal
personal study. They consider
whether subscribing to an online
music library (such as Naxos
Music Library) is an appropriate
way to deliver this.
Learners can now showcase
their work in wider electronic
communities. School
membership of specialised
moderated music education
social networking sites allows
learners to platform their own
material and exchange views on
the material of others. Sites such
as Numu allow learners to
showcase their work and
collaborate with their peers.

06

The 21st century teacher: music

07

Case
stUdy

Secondary students reach the

top ten on Numu
A Year 9 class composed their
own songs as part of a unit on
song writing. Their lessons
were structured along musical
futures lines and pupils were
enthusiastic about composing
their own work. For this task,
the teacher allowed the pupils
to decide the style of the song,
depending on their interests.
This also allowed a range of
equipment to be used without
the class wanting the same
instruments and technology all
at the same time.
The school had equipment
including electric and bass
guitars and a number of
practice rooms. Some pupils
brought in their own
instruments and worked
during lunchtimes and after
school.

Having composed their songs,

the groups then recorded them
using either a portable digital
recorder or directly into a
computer using a stereo
microphone.
The teacher encouraged the
pupils to upload their song
providing that they were
pleased with it to their own
Numu page. The teacher then
set the pupils a homework task
allocating each pupil three
songs from their class on
which to offer comments. Their
comments were based on a
framework and assessment
criteria.
One group had their hip hop
song reach the top 10 chart on
Numu by the end of the first
week. This proved to be
enormously motivating, not just
for them but for the rest of the
class.

To find out more about this and other examples,

read ICT in secondary music: a pupils entitlement
Open ICt in secondary music: a pupils entitlement

Learners now have the

opportunity to participate,
collaborate and share ideas with
the local community and across
curricular and geographical
borders. They can do this by
contributing to wikis and blogs
about music, or by making a
series of regular music-related
podcasts for a particular
audience (such as a
performance of the week
podcast for parents).
Technologies such as video
conferencing can bring distant
musicians and stylistic experts
into the classroom for special
projects or instrumental tuition.
Sites such as CLEO (Cumbria and
Lancashire Education Online) can
offer ideas.
There are many opportunities
now for teachers to collaborate
with their colleagues to offer
learners opportunities to express
their musical talents in other
contexts. To allow this to happen,
teachers embrace opportunities
to learn about technologies used
by colleagues in other subject
areas.

The 21st century teacher: music

Administration and planning

21st century teachers of music
use technology to document
their lesson planning and
prepare weekly timetables for
instrumental tuition and extracurricular clubs. By re-using and
adapting these documents they
save time, which can be used to
develop and improve other
areas. They are also aware of
copyright rules and the
educational exemptions (see
web links section) that allow
teachers to plan work using ICT.

Teachers can collect resources

for individual learning modules
so that these are quick and easy
to find. If necessary, teachers
use removable storage media,
transportable to systems that
are not connected to a network
or learning platform. Sites such
as Secondary music can be used
in this way.
Learners can have access to
electronic versions of
documents, including long-term
plans, so that they are aware of
how their learning fits into an
overall context. Teachers can
also make mark schemes
available in electronic form and
accessible from home as well as
school.

08

There are a variety of music

education forums, such as the
Teaching music forum, where
teachers can exchange opinions,
experiences, information and
educational resources.
The 21st century teacher
maintains a prioritised list of
ongoing professional
development needs, including
their need to become familiar
with new equipment. They also
keep abreast of professional
development issues and
opportunities through subject
association websites.

The 21st century teacher: music

Assessment and reporting

The 21st century teacher is a
confident user of electronic
communication mechanisms,
such as email, SMS, and the
school learning platform. They
use these technologies to
communicate with parents,
colleagues and the wider
community.

Teachers can maintain an online

database, securely accessible to
students and parents at any
time, containing records of
grades and ongoing learning
targets. They can also keep
records of achievement for
individual learners in electronic
format. These include text and
media files that inform the
Assessing Pupils Progress (APP)
School learning platforms can be
process and can be reviewed,
a two-way conduit for electronic
over time, to help identify
submission of music
summative levels of
assignments, including media
achievement. Teachers can also
and data files, and feedback of
ensure that the school website
marked assessments (especially
contains evidence of learning
in circumstances where reand assessment, including
working and re-submission is
examples of learners
needed).
compositions and photos and
videos of recent musical events.

09

The 21st century teacher is

aware of current external exam
board specifications for
acceptance of music coursework
in specific file or media formats.
They ensure that they have the
knowledge (and hardware) to
guide learners in the
preparation/conversion of their
coursework submissions. They
keep abreast of future
developments regarding
submission (such as e-portfolios
or holding data on removable
storage media). They are also
aware of any future plans for
sitting timetabled music exams
(such as listening tests) online.

The 21st century teacher: music

10

About you
Consider what you do towards developing your range
of professional teaching skills with technology.
Do you use technology to access and share information and enhance your
personal knowledge of music and understanding of professional issues
around music as a subject?
Do you support independent learning by facilitating activity, showcasing
performance and deploying music resources on the school learning platform
or website?
Do you use ICT to model music making, enabling learners to investigate
the music by changing variables such as pitch, tone and timbre?
Do you support your learners to record, manipulate and share audio
and video to refine performance, e.g. podcasts?
Do you audit the range of resources, software and hardware used in
the teaching of music and identify gaps in provision?
Do you use technology to access music in real world contexts?
Do you use technology to enable collaboration between learners
and with partner schools and their learners?

Reg
ular
ly
Som
etim
es
Not
at a
ll

21st Century Teacher: music

11

discover
more online
For further help and ideas on how to turn your checklist
into actions, try reviewing some of these resources.

National Association of music

Educators (NAME)
Public news and CPD support resources for
teachers of music. Private area for subscribed
members.

Free interactive resources

Forward-thinking music education resources with
many different approaches to exploring aspects of
classical music: activities, guides, video, audio,
sample sequencer etc.

Showcase
Free safe hosting for podcasting, video, radio and
blogs. Teachers can moderate and control access.
Pupils can have their own portfolio page and use
simple social networking tools.

Audio recording/editing software (free)

Allows direct recording from microphone or
import from file. Sounds can be layered, moved in
time and/or pitch, reversed, echoes added etc. to
make interesting soundscapes.

Community/forum
Non-commercial website community of UK music
teachers. Once registered free of charge, you get
your own home page and can offer or download
resources and participate in discussions.

Copyright rules
Paragraphs 32 to 36a of this document describe
the legal exemptions for educational use of
copyright material. Outside these exemptions
a licence is needed (check with your local
authority first).

Music scores
Website offering 30,000 music scores to print,
some for free. Includes an education section. Free
Scorch browser plugin is available from here,
needed to view and playback the scores.
Songs
Diverse library of cross-curricular songs to learn
and sing, with accompanying audio tracks and
activities, warm-ups, workouts, tutorials, lesson
plans etc.

Free software synths

Downloadable virtual instruments that can be
used within any sequencer that supports VST
plug-ins. Some are more complex or experimental
than others and they are all free!
Ictopus
Support service for primary education offering
free good quality lesson ideas and teaching
suggestions using technology in music.

The 21st century teacher: music

Copyright Becta 2010

You may reproduce this material, free of charge, in any format
or medium without specific permission, provided you are not
reproducing it for financial or material gain. You must reproduce
the material accurately and not use it in a misleading context.
If you are republishing the material or issuing it to others,
you must acknowledge its source, copyright status and date
of publication. While great care has been taken to ensure that
the information in this publication is accurate at the time of
publication, we accept no responsibility for any errors or
omissions. Where a specific product is referred to in this
publication, no recommendation or endorsement of that
product by Becta is intended, nor should it be inferred.

012

Millburn Hill Road

Science Park
Coventry CV4 7JJ
Tel: 0800 877 8777
Fax: 024 7641 1418
E-mail: customerservices@becta.org.uk
www.becta.org.uk